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Nintendo launching new hardware for 'emerging markets' next year

Nintendo's launching a new console next year. However, it's not targeted for American release. Instead, the company is pursuing "emerging markets," aiming to capitalize on "a growing middle class" in markets like China.

Nintendo's launching a new console next year. However, it's not targeted for American release. Instead, the company is pursuing "emerging markets," aiming to capitalize on "a growing middle class" in markets like China. The hardware and the games released on said platform would be oriented towards consumers with lower incomes and "less gaming experience."

"It would be difficult to enter those markets if we didn't create something new... For the mass market you need to provide something that most of the middle class can afford," Nintendo president Satoru Iwata told Reuters (via Gamespot). As a result, neither Wii U or 3DS will be released in these markets.

A new console could be based upon existing Nintendo hardware. For example, Nintendo partnered with Wei Yen to release the iQue in China, a variant of the Nintendo 64. But one thing is clear: Nintendo isn't following the footsteps of Microsoft, who plans on releasing Xbox One in China. "We think the Chinese market has a lot of potential, but I don't think the lifting of the ban has solved all of the difficulties in entering it. We need to study it more," Iwata said.